Molding-machine.



No. 895,619. PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908. A. D. GOLTON.

MOLDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 11:13.19 1906.

, 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

/ Ira/enfo) 77? ram? D. C51. 7017 11/1 02 sacs No. 895,619. PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908. A. D. GOLTON.

MOLDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION'IILED I'EB.19, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT ornron.

ARTHUR DUDLEY OOLTON, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR TO STOOKHAM PIPE & FITTINGS COMPANY, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, A CORPORATION OF ALABAMA.

MOLDING-MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11, 1908 Application filed February 19, 1906. Serial No. 301,797.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR DUDLEY Con- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented new and useful Improvements in Molding-Ma chines, of which the following is a specifica tion.

My invention relates to sand molding machines wherein the flask and patterns are moved by fluid motors against a cross-head to compress the sand around the patterns and form mechanically and rapidly molds for fittings, or other devices.

One object of my invention is to provide an improved operating mechanism for the molding machine which comprises two cylinders connected together and disposed in alinement, the main cylinder cooperating with a fixed piston and adapted to be raised or lowered by the admission or exhaust of pressure above said fiXed piston. This main cylinder is operatively connected to the flask supports while the movable piston for the secondary or smaller cylinder is connected to the movable patterns. The smaller cylinder is preferably disposed so as to projectinto the main cylinder in such a manner as to make the apparatus more com pact without reducing the effective power of said main cylinder. This provision of two concentric or parallel cylinders to control the movements of the flask and patterns insures that the latter will always move relatively in true parallelism and therefore avoid injuring the sand molds by any deflection of the patterns as they are withdrawn from the sand by their operating mechanism. here cams, eccentrics, or similar mechanisms are employed to operate the patterns, their tendencyis to deflect them from a straight line, and this tendency is accentuated with wear.

It is a further object to provide a molding machine having receding patterns and comprising, in its simplest form, a pattern plate, a stripping plate, a flask and an operating mechanism for said parts comprising two parallel or concentric cylinders, independently controllable preferably by a compound valve, and adapted to successively move the patterns to an initial position in the flask which is then filled with sand; to cause the patterns to recede by lowering the pattern plate and bringing it into operative relation with the flask support and to raise the flask and pattern plate together with the patterns against the cross-head to compress the sand.

As a further improvement, I provide the pattern plate or parts movable therewith, with catches which swing automatically into engagement with parts movable with the main cylinder, when the pattern plate has been initially raised, so that the pattern is moved with the flask to pack the sand, said catches being disengaged from said parts by leverage devices to permit the patterns to be withdrawn from the sand preparatory to removing the flask from the machine.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate my invention in what I consider its preferred form :Figure 1, represents a side elevation of the machine in position when the sand is being first introduced into the flask. Fig. 2, is a similar view illustrating the position of the patterns when the mechanism is adjusted to permit them to recede before the flask is moved against the cross-head for the purpose of packing the sand, the operating cylinders being shown in vertical section. Fig. 3, is a view corresponding to Fig. 2, and illustrating the position of the operating mechanism when the patterns are withdrawn from the sand. Fig. 4, is a bottom view of the upper section of the valve casing. Fig. 5, is a detail view of one of the guide pins and sockets for the pattern plate. Fig. 6, is a plan view of the controlling valve mechanism for the cylinders shown with the top section of the valve casing removed and the valve in position for moving the mechanism to the position shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 7, is a similar view of the valve mechanism moved to bring the parts controlled thereby to the position shown in Fig. 3.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts'throughout the drawings.

As illustrated in the drawings, my invention comprises a base plate 1 which may be mounted on rollers or bolted to the flooring as may be desired. Secured to this base is a piston 2 having its outer surface turned for steam tight engagement with a movable cylinder 3 which surrounds the piston and is provided with a central depen'ding cylindrical portion 4 which enters the chamber 5 in the upper face of the piston 2. The portion 4 of the cylinder fits loosely in the chamber 5 so that pressure, admitted to this latter chamber through a port 6, will pass freely around the portion 4 and take effect over between the whole upper face of the piston 2 so that the cylinder will be lifted by the action of the'pressure against its full crosssectional area. prevent leakage of this pressure fluid around the piston 2. The cylinder 3, which is preferably formed integral with portion 4, is provided with a vertical extension 8 which constitutes an extension of the portion 4 of the cylinder. A cylinder 9 is formed in the portion 4 and extension 8 and is closed at its upper end by a head 10 screwed to the extension 8 and provided with a central opening through which the rod 11 of a piston 12 passes. It will be noted that the head 10 is threaded for a considerable length, the object of this being to enable the head to be adjusted from the position shown in Fig. 2,-

to provide for a longer travel of the piston. By this means the piston 12 will act to raise the patterns to any desired height above the stripping plate. A set screw 10 holds this head at any desired adjustment. Fluid pressure is admitted by a flexible pipe 13 to a port 14 in extension 8, from which it passes downwardly through a passage 15 to the lower end of the cylinder 9. It will thus be seen that I provide what may be termed a movable multiple cylinder which co-acts with two reversely disposed pistons, one of which is fixed and the other of which is adapted to move in alinement or parallelism with the cylinder and control the patterns.

The flask supporting frame 16 is mounted on standards 17 connected to the cylinder 3. This frame supports the stripping plate 18, which is provided with openingsv through which patterns 19, carried by a pattern plate 20, project. The pattern plate is connected to the piston rod 11 and carries at opposite sides two studs 21 to which are swivelly connected the two depending dogs 22 that curve inwardly at their lower ends and are each provided with a shoulder 23 and a guide finger or extension 24. The cylinder 3 is provided with bearing plates 25 so disposed as to be engaged by the shoulders 23 when the pattern plate has been lifted in the manner hereinafter described. I also provide the pattern plate with a number of depending guide pins 54, preferably one at each corner, and provide each of the standards 17 with a socket member 55 in which these pins work and serve to prevent the rotating movements of the pattern plate and to guide its vertical movements.

A cross-head 26, connected in any desired manner to, the machine, is adapted to be swung or moved over the flask 27 in a position to enter therein and compress the sand when pressure is admitted to the cylinder to lift the frame 16 on which the flask is mounted. I prefer to use a single compound valve mechanism to control the two cylinders, as

Packing is provided at 7 to this insures their desired operation better than when separate valves are used. A standard 28, supported on the platform 1, has connected to its upper end the compound valve casing comprising an upper section 29 and a lower section 30, which are suitably connected together. The section 30 is provided with a circular seat 31 in its upper face, which seat receives a circular valve 32 connected to a stem operated by a crank 33 and passing through a guide bearing 34 integral with the section 29 of the valve casing. The valve seat 31 is of greater depth than the thickness of the valve so that when pres sure is admitted by a pipe 35 below the valve, the latter will be held thereby against I pipes communicate with passages 38 and 39.

which lead upwardly at right angles through the sections 30 and 29 to points over the valve, being indicated by the dotted ports 40 and 41, Fig. 3. An exhaust pipe 42 connects with a passage 43, similar to 38 and 39, which leads through the casing and terminates at the port 44 above the valve. The upper face of the valve is provided with an arcuate groove 45 of such length, that, as seen in Fig. 3, it is capable of simultaneously exhausting pressure from both cylinders through the pipes 36 and 37 and 42 by opening communication between the ports 40, 41 and 44 in the under face of section 29. The valve is provided with a transverse supply port 46, which, in'the position shown in Fig. 2, registers with the port 40 so that fluid pressure from below the valve is admitted to the main cylinder. The valve is provided with a smaller supply port 4. adapted to register with the port 41 and admit pressure to the cylinder 9. The valve is designed to have a travel of about 90 and to assume three definite operating positions which will now be described in connection with the operation of the machine.

Vhen the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, the valve will be moved to bring the supply port 47 in register with the passage 39 to admit pressure to the cylinder 9 while the groove 45 exhausts pressure from the main cylinder. Upon the admission of pressure to the cylinder 9, the piston 12 is moved upwardly and lifts the pattern plate up until the piston 12 engages the adjustable head 10. This causes the patterns to project through the stripping plate to their -maximum height which, as described, may

ing determined by the travel of the pattern plate. The flask is now placed on the frame 16 and filled with sand. After the flask has been filled with sand and the cross-head moved into position above it, the valve 32 is moved to its second position indicated in Fig. 2. In moving to this position, it acts to admit pressure through the supply port 46 and passage 38 to the main cylinder 3 which rises and forces the flask supporting frame and pattern plate upwardly into engagement with the cross-head to pack the sand. At the same time the valve acts to exhaust pressure from the cylinder 9 so that the pattern plate will move downwardly by its own weight and by the downward pressure exerted thereon by the compression of the sand against the crosshead, until the shoulders 23 engage the plates 25. These shoulders lock the patterns in engagement with the main cylinder 3, which lifts all of the parts together and completes the compression of the sand against the cross-head. Upon the completion of this operation, the valve is moved to its third position shown in Fig. 3, which exhausts pressure from cylinder 3, causing the frame 16 and the pattern plat 21 to be lowered with this cylinder.

When the main cylinder has completed its down stroke the dogs are disengaged in the following manner to permit the piston 12 to drop and lower the patterns. I provide two cam shafts 48 and 49, one of which is journaled in each of the standards 17. These shafts carry cams 50 and are provided at their front ends with cranks 51 connected by a bar 52. An operating handle 53 is connected to one of these cranks so that by depressing it the earns 50 are thrown outwardly in opposite directions. These cams in this outward movement are adapted to engage the dogs 22 and disengage them from the plates 25 so that the pattern supporting piston 12 will drop, since all fluid pressure has been exhausted from its cylinder, and lower the patterns to the position shown in Fig. 3. Though I prefer that the small cylinder 9 should be disposed partly or wholly within the main cylinder 3 in order to increase the length of its pistons' travel without increasing the height of the machine, yet it will be understood that these cylinders may be mounted one upon the other or connected together in any desired manner so long as their pistons are disposed in parallelism or alinement. Also separate valves may be used to control the admission of pressure to the two cylinders.

The mechanism as thus described is simple in construction and capable of rapid operation even in the hands of unskilled labor. Its chief advantages lie in the small number of its parts and the accuracy of their relative movements.

To produce a uniform packing for the sand under varying conditions of pressure, I provide adjustable means to limit the stroke of the cylinder 3 so that it compresses the sand to the same extent regardless of the amount of pressure in the main cylinder. Such a means is illustrated in Fig. 1, and comprises a pair of fixed bolts 56, which pass freely through lugs 57 bolted or otherwise secured to opposite sides of the cylinder. Nuts 58 are screwed on the top of the bolts and are adjustable thereon so that they engage the lugs to stop the up stroke of the cylinder at any desired point.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a molding machine, a presser plate, a flask support, a stripping plate, patterns, and operating mechanism for said parts comprising a fluld motor adapted to raise and support said patterns at their maximum height prior to the sand pressing operation, a main fluid motor for forcing said flask and presser plate together, means to permit said patterns to freely recede to a position intermediate their extreme raised and lowered positions, and means to hold said patterns in this intermediate position during the compression of the sand.

2. In a molding machine, a movable flask support, a presser plate, a stripping plate, patterns mounted on a pattern plate, a fluid motor to lift said patterns in line with the movement of said flask support to an initial position above said stripping plate, means to release said pattern plate of supporting power so that the patterns recede freely, means to arrest the patterns at an intermediate or secondary position above their extreme lowered position and hold them in this intermediate position in fixed relationship with said stripping plate during the compression of the sand, and means to effect a compression of the sand and form the mold.

3. In a molding machine, a flask support,

a movable cylinder connected thereto, a

fixed piston for said cylinder, a pattern plate, an operating fluid motor therefor mounted on said cylinder, means to engage and lift said pattern plate by said cylinder, said motor acting to raise and support said pattern plate in an initial position above that it assumes when in engagement with said means and to permit the said pattern plate to recede freely and unaffected by any counterbalancing resistance until it engages said means, and a presser plate towards which said cylinder moves said flask support and pattern plate after the latter engages said means.

4. In a molding machine, a movable flask said pattern plate will recede before it assumes a fixed operative relationship with said flask support, a mechanism to bring said pattern" plate into fixed relationship with said support, a fluid motor to force said flask support and pattern plate as thus positioned towards said cross-head, and mechanism to disengage said pattern plate from said flask support after the completion of the sand molding operation, as and for the pur- I poses described.

5. In a molding machine, supporting means for a flask and stripping plate, a pattern plate carrying patterns adapted to project through said stripping plate and to recede partly therethrough during the sand molding operation, and a fluid motor, having an adjustable stroke, which moves said pattern plate relatively to said supporting means and controls said receding movement of the patterns, in combination with devices to bring said pattern plate into fixed relationship with said supporting means below its point of highest elevation, a presser plate, and means to move said parts together toward said plate.

6. In a molding machine, a cross-head, a flask and stripping plate support, a main motor to force said parts towards said crosshead, an independently movable pattern plate, a secondary fluid motor to adjust said pattern plate relatively to said stripping plate, and means to establish, by the exhaust of fluid from said secondary motor, a lost motion driving connection between the pattern plate and said main motor.

7. In a molding machine, a movable flask support, a stationary cross-head, a fixed piston, a movable cylinder co-acting therewith and connected to said support, a sec ond cylinder mounted on said movable cylinder, a movable piston for said second cylinder, a pattern plate connected to said latter piston, and means to bring said pattern plate at an intermediate point in its travel into fixed relationship with said movable cylinder in combination with a fluid pressure controlling means which exhausts fluid from beneath said movable piston as it admits fluid above said fixed piston.

8. In a molding machine, a flask support, a presser-plate, a main fluid motor to force said support towards said presser-plate, a pattern plate, a fluid motor to lift said pattern plate in line with the movements of said support, devices, movable with said pattern plate, which move automatically, as said plate is raised, into position to engage with parts movable by said main motor, means to bring said devices into operative engagement with said main motor by the withdrawal of supporting pressure from beneath the pattern plate, and mechanism to disconnect said devices and pattern plate from said main motor.

9. In a molding machine, a presser-plate, a flask supporting means comprising a fluid motor, a pattern plate movable relatively thereto and provided with guide pins and depending dogs or catches, sockets carried by said flask supporting means which receive said guide pins, a fluid motor to lift said pattern plate and permit said dogs or catches to swing into the path of movement of said flask supporting means towards said presser-plate, fluid connections to said m0- tors, and a compound valve which exhausts said latter motor as it admits fluid to the motor for moving the flask.

10. In a molding machine, a fixed piston having a chamber formed by a recess in its upper face, a vertically movable cylinder which co-acts-with said piston being open at its lower end and closed at its upper end by a head, a small cylinder forming a fixed part of said head and projecting within the cylinder so as to enter with aloose fit into the chamber in said fixed piston, means to admit fluid pressure into the chamber in said fixed piston, said pressure being adapted to freely circulate between the chamber walls and small cylinder for the purposes described, a flask support adapted to be moved by the action of the fluid pressure against both of said cylinders, a pattern plate, a piston in said small cylinder connected to said plate, and means to admit fluid pressure to said small cylinder, in combination with means to bring said pattern plate into operative en gagement with said movable cylinder.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- ARTHUR DUDLEY COLTONQ l/Vitnesses:

Tnos. J. WINGFIELD, WM. H. STOOKHAMi 

